![\"Lois](\"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/LoisMorton_Piaf-215x300.jpg\")
Years ago, I encouraged Lois to attend the annual Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conference and to apply for showcases at it. Accompanying herself on a mini-piano during the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase at the 2011 NERFA Conference, she drew a standing ovation from an audience that was captivated by her and thoroughly enchanted with her funny songs. Selected for an official juried showcase in 2012, Lois repeated that feat (a rarity at NERFA conferences). At my urging, she applied for and secured another official juried showcase a few years later. <\/p>\n
Lois earned the praise of noted folk DJs like John Platt and Rich Warren. \u201cDon\u2019t be deceived. Underneath Lois Morton\u2019s sweet grandmotherly demeanor lurks a wickedly clever songwriter,\u201d Platt, host of Sunday Supper<\/em> on New York’s WFUV, once commented. \u201cThe legacy of Tom Lehrer lives on in Lois.\u201d Warren, the recently retired host of the long-running, nationally syndicated The Midnight Special<\/em>, played her songs frequently and also invited her to perform live in Chicago on his WFMT radio program and concert series, Folkstage<\/em>. Her song \u201cThe Diet is Cast\u201d received an Imprint Radio Award from the late upstate New York folk DJ Terry Doyle for Best Live Performance and also was nominated for a 2012 MAC Award by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs. She received a 2014 MAC Award for a New York City cabaret revue, 20th Century Girl (featuring songs from her 2013 album of the same name), that was performed at Don\u2019t Tell Mama and The Duplex.<\/p>\n [Here’s a link to a video of Lois Morton performing “The Diet is Cast:” Lois was also the subject of a cover feature in Acoustic Live! in New York City & Beyond<\/em>. Richard Cuccaro, its editor & publisher, opined: \u201cFor any concertgoer who loves intricate wordplay, Lois is a lodestone discovery. Truly a gem.\u201d Singer-Songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore, with whom she took courses at the Omega Institute, described her songs as “a beautiful blend of biting wit, constant surprises and poignant, human stories. They alternately provoke us to laughter at our modern foibles and touch our hearts with timeless, tender, heartfelt sharing.” Lois was also a frequent attendee of the Summersongs and Wintersongs songwriting camps in upstate New York.<\/p>\n Lois leaves behind a daughter (Amy), a son (Philip), three grandchildren, and a trove of songs that I hope will be discovered and enjoyed by people for years to come. Below are links to just a few of the many videos of her performing them that appear on YouTube:<\/p>\n \u201cTwentieth Century Girl\u201d <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tQaY9R2aBtk<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Cell Phone Song\u201d<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=f84Kg2n-cTI<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cConfessions of a Clutterholic\u201d<\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yZb30xZjUZc.<\/a>]<\/p>\n![\"Lois](\"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Lois-Morton-As-I-See-It-300x300.jpg\")
She released three CDs of original songs \u2013 As I See It<\/em>, Doorways In Time<\/em> and 20th Century Girl<\/em> \u2013 and, in November 2019, a six-song EP entitled Thinking It Through<\/em>. In addition to her own topical songs, which she began writing in the late 1960s, and several of which were published in Broadside Magazine, Lois brought to life the legendary Edith Piaf in a lecture-cabaret program featuring songs and stories and also performed a show called \u201cRaisins and Almonds: Jewish Songs for the Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n